Skipray Blastboat

The GAT-12 Skipray Blastboat is a light gunship in service of the Galactic Empire. It only appears in EU sources.

Specifications

Built by Sienar Fleet Systems, the manufacturer of the venerable TIE series, the Skipray Blastboat is a small starship that can only be described as "armed to the teeth."

Too large to be called a starfighter, but too small to be a Capital ship, the Blastboat is a capable starship with a class 2 hyperdrive. The ship is armed with a high-capacity shield grid as well as a powerful reactor, making it able to absorb a massive amount of punishment.

Weapons include twin ion cannons on it's rotating wingtips, as well as a third mounted in it's nose. Centrally mounted on the top (dorsal) of the ship is a double blaster or turbolaserturret (depending on the model). In the nose of the ship are a proton torpedo and a concussion missile launcher, as well as a tractor beam projector, making the ship extremely capable in combat. Only the Rebellion'sB-wing comes close to packing this much compact firepower in a similarly sized package.

The ship has a crew of five: a pilot, co-pilot, sensor officer, and two gunners. The ship is 25 meters long, meaning that it can easily operate from most large capital ships as a parasite craft. The ship's wings rotate from vertical to horizontal for landing configuration.

Distribution

The starfighter-wary Imperial Navy was slow to generally deploy these ships, leading to Sienar Fleet Systems opting to sell models of the vessel on the open market, meaning that it serves as a backbone of many corporate, mercenary, pirate, and smuggler fleets. Many of the up-gunned (armed with turbolasers) versions of the ship were sold on the general market to make them more appealing to smaller buyers. This means that some independently owned Blastboats are better armed then their standard Imperial counterparts.